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News / Announcements

“Telephone Film” in the New York Times, and next screening on November 15th!

The Telephone Film is currently featured in The New York Times, as part of a thoughtful piece by reporter Siobhan Burke which explores the evolution of audio description for dance.

Here is the opening excerpt:

The dancer Krishna Washburn remembers attending a performance years ago by a well-known modern dance company at a large New York City theater. Washburn, who is blind, opted to experience the show with audio description: in this case, a track that narrated the dance as it was happening, delivered through a headset.

Intended to make the performance more accessible, the voice in her ear had the opposite effect: She left the theater feeling alienated, excluded. During the finale, a work famous for its deep emotional resonance, she heard people in the seats around her crying. But the audio description evoked nothing that seemed worthy of tears.

“I’m listening to: ‘Two dancers enter stage right; they proceed down the front diagonal,’” she said in a video interview, recalling the describer’s mechanical tone. “‘Two more dancers join them.’ And I’m like: ‘Why did they get you to cry? What’s really happening? There’s something I’m not getting.’”

Washburn now looks back on that moment as a turning point — away from feeling grateful for any attempt at audio description, and toward imagining and advocating more.

The founder and sole teacher of Dark Room Ballet, a ballet curriculum designed for blind and visually impaired students, Washburn is also the co-director, with the choreographer Heather Shaw, of “Telephone,” a film exploring the creative possibilities of audio description for dance. Presented around the country since its premiere last year, “Telephone” will be screened virtually by the New York City dance hub Movement Research on Nov. 15, followed by a conversation with the filmmakers.

The article continues, and includes audio and video:

Hear the Dance: Audio Description Comes of Age

(gift link, no subscription required, feel free to share)

Recent experiments in describing dance, like the film “Telephone,” approach it not just as an accessibility service but as a space for artistic exploration.

* A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 12, 2023, Section AR, Page 5 of the New York edition with the headline: Audio Description Finds Its Footing.

Our next screening:

With gratitude to all our colleagues and collaborators (many of whom are featured in the article), we would like to invite everyone to the next virtual screening of the Telephone Film, which takes place on Wednesday, November 15th at 6:30 PM (Eastern), sponsored by Movement Research.

The screening is free, but registration is required:

Register for Studies Project: Telephone Film Virtual Screening at Movement Research

If the registration form is not accessible to you, please email info@darkroomballet.com to register

Please note:

  • This event will happen ONLINE via Zoom.
  • Once you register, you should receive confirmation from Movement Research and/or Dark Room Ballet with a Zoom link and access to the Telephone FilmGoer Guide online.
  • If you cannot attend this screening, there are future screening events that can join — visit the Telephone Film Screenings page for updated info!


Thank you for your support of Dark Room Ballet and the Telephone Film!

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News / Announcements

Dark Room Presents: Audio Description for Dance Summer Workshops: Saturdays, from July 8 through August 19, 2023

  • Saturday, July 8: Four Strategies to De-Center Sight in Audio Description for Dance (past session)
  • Saturday, July 15: Experimentation in Vocal Tonality for Audio Description for Dance (past session)
  • Saturday, July 22: Body Language, Movement Shorthand, and Mime for Blind Audiences (past session)
  • Saturday, July 29: Narrative Components in Audio Description for Dance (past session)
  • Saturday, August 5: Script Preparation Strategies for Audio Description for Dance: Multiple Pathways! (past session)
  • Saturday, August 12: Yeah, But Was It Good? Learning How to Listen to Audio Description for Dance Critically (past session)
  • Saturday, August 19: Three Traditional Ballet Variations Explored Through Pedagogical and Theatrical Audio Description (past session)


 

These seven tuition-free workshops are designed to address many different topics pertaining to audio description for dance from many different approaches.

Like all Dark Room curriculum, all of these workshops are designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired learners, and these workshops are meant to serve specifically: blind and visually impaired dancers, blind and visually impaired audio description consultants and editors, audio describers of all vision levels, access professionals working for arts organizations and educational institutions, choreographers, dramaturges, and performing arts educators.

Registration is now open! To register for any of these tuition-free workshops, please send an email to info@darkroomballet.com

New students who have never studied in the Dark Room before will need to fill out an intake form. Most audio description courses are very expensive, and almost none of them focus exclusively on dance in their subject matter, so please register at your earliest convenience!

About the instructor:

Krishna Washburn is the Artistic Director and sole teacher for all Dark Room courses. She teaches traditional blind dance technique at the introductory, open, and professional levels, dancer’s anatomy for blind and visually impaired learners (No Diagram Anatomy), and audio description for dance. She holds a M.Ed. from Hunter College and multiple certifications through the American College of Sports Medicine with special focus in biomechanics. She is the Co-Director, along with choreographer Heather Shaw, of Telephone, an educational documentary film that explores artistic philosophy pertaining to audio description and documenting the multiple artistic forms of audio description for dance. Krishna is one of very few blind educators working in the field of dance and audio description, but hopes that will change very soon.


WORKSHOP DETAILS:

NOTE: All workshops take place via Zoom beginning at 4 PM (Eastern/New York Time) and run approximately 2 hours; some may run longer depending on participation.

Saturday, July 8: Four Strategies to De-Center Sight in Audio Description for Dance



When developing audio description for dance, even for blind artists, there is an expectation that the audio describer will “say what is seen.” What if this approach isn’t adequate to express the artistic ideas of the dance? What are strategies that audio describers and dancers can reach for instead? In this workshop, students will learn four strategies to help break them out of the “say what you see” box, and also learn about a popular strategy that might be better off left on the shelf.

 

Saturday, July 15: Experimentation in Vocal Tonality for Audio Description for Dance


Most audio description used to support television and film is recorded with a neutral tone of voice. However, we here in the Dark Room propose that dance is a very different art form that deserves a different approach to audio description. Be ready to listen to some interesting examples of audio description, practice using the voice expressively, and pair sound and movement together in artistically effective ways.

 

Saturday, July 22: Body Language, Movement Shorthand, and Mime for Blind Audiences


Although there are common cultural assumptions about popular body language and movement shorthand, it’s important to remember that they are all learned and not universally known! We’re going to break down some body language assumptions, find ways to integrate effective audio description, and explore the wonderfully hilarious world of mime and exaggerated body language.

 

Saturday, July 29: Narrative Components in Audio Description for Dance


One of the greatest challenges for audio describers of dance is balancing movement description with essential narrative components. While some dance companies provide narrative information about dance in a synopsis before the performance, we here in the Dark Room argue that the synopsis is inadequate to help blind and visually impaired audiences truly immerse themselves in the art. Learn how to connect story and movement through examples and creation.

Saturday, August 5: Script Preparation Strategies for Audio Description for Dance: Multiple Pathways!


Where do audio description scripts come from? It depends! This workshop will discuss multiple approaches to getting started on an audio description script, depending on multiple factors: access to artists involved with the project, prior knowledge, type of audience, style of performance, timeframes, and so on and so forth. This is a great introduction to script writing for audio description novices, and a great opportunity for audio description fans to express themselves.

Saturday, August 12: Yeah, But Was It Good? Learning How to Listen to Audio Description for Dance Critically


Audio description for dance performances is still very rare, but that doesn’t mean that blind and visually impaired audiences should be satisfied when the audio description on offer is of low quality. Students are going to get to listen to many, many examples of audio description for dance, and talk about what works and what doesn’t work, and what we might change in order to improve it.

 

Saturday, August 19: Three Traditional Ballet Variations Explored Through Pedagogical and Theatrical Audio Description


Are you a blind or visually impaired dancer who needs an audition solo? Are you a blind or visually impaired ballet lover who would love a deep-dive into some traditional ballet dances? Are you an audio describer of traditional ballet performance who wants to learn multiple approaches to capturing the magic of ballet in language? If so, this workshop is for you! Learn solos from traditional ballet repertoire: La Fille Mal Gardee, The Nutcracker, and Giselle.

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News / Announcements

Support the Telephone Film and Dark Room Ballet on #GivingTuesday!

Cyber Monday is coming to a close, which means that tomorrow is Giving Tuesday!

You may have heard about the Telephone Film project before. 

Description in caption

3 photos of Krishna side by side. In each she is holding a cordless phone to her ear in a playful pose, in front of a doorframe. She also wears one of her handmade Dark Room Adorned bracelets on her wrist.  The left photo is tinted with a blue effect, her expression coy. The second photo is tinted to look like a sepia mosaic, and she is making a surprised face. The right photo shows Krishna laughing, edited in watercolor style pink, purple and red tones.

If you haven’t, here is some more info:

The first of its kind, Telephone is a work-in-progress short film bringing awareness to the important art form of audio description (AD) for dance. Audio description allows blind and visually impaired people to be included fully in the joy of artistic expression.

Co-directed by Dark Room Ballet founder Krishna Washburn and choreographer Heather Shaw, Telephone is the first screendance film created specifically with a visually impaired audience in mind, while facilitating an immersive sensory experience for audience members of all sight levels.

Created during the global pandemic, the film features diverse disabled and non-disabled artists from across the globe, demystifying and legitimizing AD, not just as an access tool, but as a beautiful, rich art form in its own right.

Telephone is at the forefront of a completely new approach to audio description. Most of what is considered “best practice” for AD is meant for television or film. A neutral AD voice describes the visuals and does not express emotional content. In television and film, the performers’ voices (layered over the AD) inform the audience of the emotional themes. However, in dance, performers rarely speak. Is the neutral AD voice really the best choice for dance? How do those listening to the AD connect with the emotional content of the performance?

The audio describers of Telephone are reshaping the world’s perception of AD, adding emotional context and allowing their words to dance in the same way a dancer’s body moves. The result is a beautiful merge of poetry and movement, proving that:

Dance is visceral – not merely visual.

You can help!

Telephone is now holding initial screenings!

But we need to raise funds which will go directly towards the fantastic team of artists we have on board, as well as to cover costs to produce the film. Our original goal was met (covering initial costs) and we are now fundraising to cover post-production needs such as editing, accessibility providers, composers and more.

  • Interested in making a one-time donation? You can do so on Ko-Fi. 💰
  • Have you had a chance to buy a bracelet made by Krishna at DARK ROOM ADORNED? There are over 60 to chose from, like BLINDING LIGHTS. 💎
  • And don’t forget, there are 3 Dark Room Ballet tote bags left! You can buy one to support TelephoneHeels like Magnets (thanks to JazeluCreations on eBay) 👜

Before you go…

And if you just can’t stop thinking about telephones, watch the Yip Yip Martians discover a telephone on Earth and try communicating with it using different animal sounds they know on Sesame Street!

Thank you as always, for supporting the missions Dark Room Ballet and the Telephone Film!

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News / Announcements

Dark Room Ballet Introductory Classes for Blind and Visually Impaired Students — New Cycle Begins Saturday, June 25th

Beginning Saturday, June 25th from 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)   

NOTE: This class is designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults.

This is a FREE class!

Hosted by Movement Research, Dark Room Ballet classes are designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults.

About Saturday Introductory Level Class:

This class is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of ballet. This repeating series of eight classes introduces students to the most common ballet vocabulary that they would need to know in order to participate in Open Level Dark Room Ballet Class. The class introduces students to necessary anatomical concepts like turnout, torso stability, foot sensitivity and mobility, sightless balancing, and the use of a taped floor for orientation.

Classes take place each Saturday online via the Zoom platform; there is also the option to call in via phone.



Register:


If you are a blind or visually impaired individual interested in learning ballet remotely, you MUST contact us by no later than June 18, so you can complete the intake process to register for this class.



To register, email info@darkroomballet.com to begin the intake process

You can also reach Dark Room Ballet by phone at (929) 367-0025


If you have some ballet experience, you may also qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights; please contact us if you are interested.

Returning students are welcome to re-join intro level classes, as well as encouraged to join Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class. Please let us know if you would like to re-join intro class as a returning student.

If you work with an organization that serves blind or visually impaired people, please share this information with people who may be interested in registering for this class.

If you are NOT a blind or visually impaired student, you may qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights on a select basis; please get in touch with us to explain your interest.


Other Classes in the Dark Room

In addition to online Introductory and Open Level ballet classes for blind and visually impaired adults, Krishna often teaches workshops on related topics open to everyone, including anatomy, improvisation and audio description.


Learn more about past and upcoming online workshops: Dark Room Ballet Workshops

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News / Announcements

Dark Room Ballet Introductory Classes for Blind and Visually Impaired Students — New Cycle Begins Saturday, April 9th

Beginning Saturday, April 9 from 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)   


NOTE: This class is designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people.

This is a FREE class!

Hosted by Movement Research, Dark Room Ballet classes are designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people.

About Saturday Introductory Level Class:

This class is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of ballet. This repeating series of eight classes introduces students to the most common ballet vocabulary that they would need to know in order to participate in Open Level Dark Room Ballet Class. The class introduces students to necessary anatomical concepts like turnout, torso stability, foot sensitivity and mobility, sightless balancing, and the use of a taped floor for orientation.

Classes take place each Saturday online via the Zoom platform; there is also the option to call in via phone.

Register:

To register, email: info@darkroomballet.com

You can also reach Dark Room Ballet by phone at (929) 367-0025


  • If you are a blind or visually impaired individual interested in learning ballet remotely, please get in touch before April 9, so you can be registered for this class. If you have already contacted us, we will get back to you as soon as we can!
    If you have some ballet experience, you may also qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights; please contact us if you are interested.
  • Returning students are welcome to re-join intro level classes, as well as encouraged to join Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class. Please let us know if you would like to re-join intro class as a returning student.
  • If you work with an organization that serves blind or visually impaired people, please share this information with people who may be interested in registering for this class.
  • If you are NOT a blind or visually impaired student, you may qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights on a select basis; please get in touch with us to explain your interest.

Other Classes in the Dark Room

In addition to online Introductory and Open Level ballet classes for blind and visually impaired adults, Krishna often teaches workshops on related topics open to everyone, including anatomy, improvisation and audio description.

New workshop information will be available soon for upcoming summer and fall workshops; here are links to information on past online workshops: Dark Room Ballet Workshops

Categories
News / Announcements

Dark Room Ballet Introductory Classes for Blind and Visually Impaired Students — New Cycle Begins Saturday, January 22! (and other classes available)

Beginning Saturday, January 22 from 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)   


NOTE: This class is designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people.

This is a FREE class!

Hosted by Movement Research, Dark Room Ballet classes are designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people.

About Saturday Introductory Level Class:

This class is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of ballet. This repeating series of eight classes introduces students to the most common ballet vocabulary that they would need to know in order to participate in Open Level Dark Room Ballet Class. The class introduces students to necessary anatomical concepts like turnout, torso stability, foot sensitivity and mobility, sightless balancing, and the use of a taped floor for orientation.

Classes take place each Saturday online via the Zoom platform; there is also the option to call in via phone.

Register:
To register, email: Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights; please contact us if you are interested.

  • Returning students are welcome to re-join intro level classes, as well as encouraged to join Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class. Please let us know if you would like to re-join intro class as a returning student.
  • If you work with an organization that serves blind or visually impaired people, please share this information with people who may be interested in registering for this class.
  • If you are NOT a blind or visually impaired student, you may qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights on a select basis; please get in touch with us to explain your interest.
  • Other Classes in the Dark Room!

    • Saturday, March 19, 2022 and Saturday, March 26, 2022 are the make-up dates for No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room, an interactive dancers’ anatomy course that de-centers sight, and will cover the complete lower body and complete upper body, respectively.

    We look forward to hearing from you soon!

    Care about audio description and supporting dance art for blind and visually impaired people? Check out Telephone and Telephone Ko-Fi.

    Categories
    News / Announcements

    Gratitude in the Dark Room: A Collective Dance Improvisation with Krishna Washburn and jill sigman/thinkdance Saturday, July 3rd, 4 PM to 5:30 PM (EDT)

    SPECIAL CLASS


    [Virtual] Gratitude in the Dark Room:
    A Collective Dance Improvisation with Krishna Washburn and jill sigman/thinkdance


    Saturday, July 3
    4 PM to 5:30 PM EDT
    on Zoom

    Dark Room Ballet (sponsored by Movement Research) joins jill sigman/thinkdance in NYC to participate in a special, international collective dance improvisation initiated and conceived by Belgian dance artist, Ann Cailliau.

    On July 3, dancers in multiple locations and multiple countries will be taking time to use movement to express gratitude and connection through movement and orientation in space. jill sigman/thinkdance will be hosting a live outdoor event in Riverside Park in New York City simultaneously with this online workshop.

    No experience in improvisational dance is needed to participate. The whole event is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people, and participants are encouraged to unmute, ask questions, and self-describe throughout the event.

    Infinite gratitude for our collective wisdom, our collective knowledge!

    Register:

    To register, email: info@darkroomballet.com

    Categories
    Krishna's Thoughts News / Announcements

    Instead of a mirror, blind dancers rely on their ears, feet and a strong sense of their body in space

    Originally posted on January 6, 2021 at the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital’s BLOOM Blog

    Woman doing ballet in kitchen in front of laptop
    Bloom Logo

    BLOOM BLOG
    Jan 06, 2021

    Instead of a mirror, blind dancers rely on their ears, feet and a strong sense of their body in space

    Photo © Danielle Parhizkaran – USA TODAY NETWORK 

    By Louise Kinross

    Krishna Washburn (above) is a blind dancer in New York City who teaches a free online ballet class at Dark Room Balletfor adults who are visually impaired. Her students come from around the world. They can’t see her, but they rely on her verbal descriptions of exercises and how to move their body into different shapes. Instead of a mirror, students use a strip of tape on the floor to orient them in space. Krishna is a professional dancer who has performed with many companies. She holds a Master’s of Education from Hunter College and a special certification through the American College of Sports Medicine. No experience is necessary for her introductory class, which runs every Monday night. We spoke about her non-visual style of instruction which is grounded in a deep understanding of the body. 

    BLOOM: What is dark room ballet?

    Krishna Washburn: The concept is a system of teaching ballet that does not privilege sight. It’s based on several different techniques that I’ve absorbed over the years. I was taught ballet through the Royal Academy of Dance, so that is the ballet style we use. I don’t give my students a mirror as a tool. Instead, I give them a strip of tape on the floor, so we have to learn with a different mindset but with the same, shared vocabulary that all ballet dancers use. It’s very anatomy-based. I take a lot of inspiration from Feldenkrais techniques about coming to understand how your anatomy interacts internally, and from the great tradition of Japanese Butoh, which is also a dance style that is non-visual and very much about knowing how your nervous system works.

    I have a Monday night group class at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, and I have students who come from every part of the world and every time zone. My students mean so much to me. Monday class is open level so it’s suitable for people with an introductory level understanding of ballet positions. We typically do six exercises, including centre, and I use very fun music. I speak and describe continuously through the music. Some of my students have some sight, but most of my students don’t see me at all. The first hour is focusing on being in your body and ballet technique. The last half hour is the most important part, because it’s question and answer time. Students can ask me to explain something we did in more detail so they’re clear on it. It’s also a time for the blind and visually impaired community to get to know and support each other in their dance journey. 

    BLOOM: Why do you call it dark room?

    Krishna Washburn: For many reasons. A dark room in photography is where images develop, so the dark room is also a theoretical place where you as an artist take time to develop and allow yourself to change chemically.

    BLOOM: I love that analogy. How is blind dancing different from sighted dancing? I read this on your website in a piece called Breaking down stereotypes about blind dancersSome people, even other disabled people, think that the aesthetic of the blind dancer is basically what a sighted dancer would do, just not as good. This is a mistake that people make because of ableism. A highly skilled blind dancer is absolutely not lesser than a highly skilled sighted dancer, but is, indeed, different.

    Krishna Washburn: That essay is about breaking down stereotypes about blind dancers and taking the fear away from talking about ableism. When we talk about the difference between how a sighted and blind dancer moves, it’s really very different, because we need to think about our bodies and our movement choices very differently. We have to use our ears, use our feet, use our sense of internal orientation, and we need a much greater awareness of our own anatomy.

    The study tool of the sighted dancer is the mirror. You watch your teacher in the mirror and copy your teacher. The blind dancer can’t do that. The blind dancer has to understand the floor, that is our tool. We use a tape strip. The orientation tape on the floor is a very old tradition. It’s how blind teachers teach blind students how to keep their spot as they’re studying, how to keep their sensitivity in their feet, how to understand where they are, and how to feel confident where they are. I need to understand where all of my bones are in my body. Maybe a sighted dancer doesn’t have to do that. I need to know exactly how much space I have before I begin a choreography. A sighted dancer doesn’t have to think twice about that. That doesn’t mean that the quality of my artistry is in any way secondary to what a sighted dancer does. I’m not compensating. I’m using technique that is appropriate to me. I’m a master of my art in the same way sighted dancers are a master of theirs. 

    I feel there’s a very unhealthy narrative we teach to kids that you have a disability so you’re going to have to overcome that disability and compensate in order to achieve what you want to achieve. That’s a terrible thing we teach our kids. It doesn’t reflect reality. The reality is we live in an ableist world. I’ve mentored younger, pre-professional dancers who’ve told me ‘I thought I needed to compensate or work harder or do something to overcome.’ We need to be frank. There is a problem in our culture called ableism. People think what you do is less valuable and less important than what non-disabled people do. And that isn’t true. When people discriminate against you and use stereotypes about your disability, instead of interacting with you as a unique person, we need to point it out, or get an older person to help. 

    BLOOM: What’s the greatest challenge of doing your class online?

    Krishna Washburn: The hardest part is making sure my technology is not going to break, because that has actually happened. The compressor in my extremely expensive microphone did break and we had to do old school and use the internal microphone in my laptop. But I got a new one right away. So you have to make sure the technology is your friend.

    I love teaching online because I don’t have the commute. I didn’t even realize this but prior to quarantine, I spent an easy four hours a day in the subway in New York City, getting to studios. I have so much more time now and I work so much harder. I’m doing many private classes as well as group classes, and I’m rehearsing in arts projects and creating art on my own. 

    BLOOM: What’s the great joy of your online class?

    Krishna Washburn: There’s so much joy. Having conversations with my students in Q and A time, when you can hear in their voice that something clicks. Ballet is fundamentally a dance form that prioritizes balance. You stabilize one part of your body so you can have freedom elsewhere. Most of the time you stabilize your torso, so your arms and legs can move freely. Once that clicks, and the student says I know how to find the back of my heels, to transfer my weight from foot to foot and keep my torso stable so my legs can move as I want, and I can feel balanced and not feel scared, then every movement from then on is like the first domino falling on the floor and the rest fall into place.

    BLOOM: What do people, especially beginners, say they get out of the class?

    Krishna Washburn: A lot of blind folks have been deprived of information about their own bodies because somebody decided that because they’re blind or visually impaired, they don’t need to know about their own skeleton, about their own nervous system, and about the names of the parts of their body. I’ve had conversations with adaptive physical education teachers who work with young people, and I always encourage them not only to always use their voice and describe movements, but to explicitly teach anatomy, even to little kids.  A lot of blind dance beginners who are adults need this education, and there aren’t people offering it to adults. 

    If I’m starting with someone who has been prevented from knowing the basic facts about their body and their body’s capability, I’m giving them the opportunity to truly take ownership of their body and to know what it is and what it does and what it can do, and to not feel anxious about movement. I want them to feel happiness in movement and to feel freedom in movement and to not feel the weight of judgment of sighted people watching.

    BLOOM: How did you get interested in dance?

    Krishna Washburn: I started out as a sighted person who was scouted by the Royal Academy of Dance when I was three. I went through the entire curriculum and it wasn’t until I was a young adult in a pre-professional stage of my training that I experienced vision loss. All of my paid work has been as a blind performer.

    BLOOM: I know you perform with a number of dance companies. What pulls you to teaching?

    Krishna Washburn: I was born to be a teacher. That’s always mattered to me. And I don’t want what I’ve learned in life as a dancer to die with me. I want to grow this as a field and gain legitimacy and not become a separate group that no one has heard of. If you’re American, it’s very normal for you to have dance lessons as a kid. Unless you’re disabled. I would like dance to be a normal part of growing up, whether you’re disabled or not.  Every child should have a chance to learn about the body and take time to understand these are how my bones feel together, and I can feel the nerves in my fingers and feet, I know they’re there. It’s not theoretical stuff from science class, it’s real.

    BLOOM: What is the best way for someone to contact you if they’d like to consider joining your Monday class?

    Krishna Washburn: Just e-mail me at info @ darkroomballet.com.

    You can learn all about Krishna and her classes by visiting Dark Room Ballet.

    Categories
    News / Announcements

    Virtual ballet class for blind dancers thrives during the pandemic

    Original article published at NorthJersey.com, December 15, 2020

    The pandemic cut off George Stern from his go-to physical activities. No more jiujitsu. Goodbye running group. 

    Stern, who is deafblind, needed something safe and accessible that could keep him healthy. He stumbled upon a post in a social media group where people with disabilities talk about fitness and discovered Dark Room Ballet, a virtual class run out of a New York City apartment and designed for people with impaired vision. 

    Stern was inspired by Misty Copeland, the first African American woman to become a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre, to sign up for private lessons. 

    “Uppermost in my head as I went into this was the memory of an NPR feature on … Copeland, and her words to the effect that ballet was for all body types, not just tall, skinny ones,” Stern said.

    Krishna Washburn teaches her 'Dark Room Ballet' class, a virtual ballet class for blind and visually impaired people, from her kitchen in New York on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020.
    Krishna Washburn teaches her ‘Dark Room Ballet’ class, a virtual ballet class for blind and visually impaired people, from her kitchen in New York on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com

    And not just sighted ones.

    Dark Room Ballet founder and instructor Krishna Washburn, a blind dancer based in New York, taught Stern that people with disabilities can also practice ballet. And during the pandemic, offering the classes virtually made her lessons accessible in a way they weren’t before. 

    With two laptops, a microphone and a chair used as a ballet barre, Washburn guides students through the technique of a highly visual art form using detailed descriptions of how they should move their bodies. She teaches virtually on Zoom from her Hamilton Heights apartment every Monday evening.

    Sighted ballet dancers scrutinize their movements in large mirrors until they perfect a sequence, but perfection isn’t what matters in Washburn’s classes.

    She believes it’s immaterial to talk about how dancers should look. Instead, she explains how her students’ bodies should feel in order to build their confidence to dance.

    Washburn launched Dark Room Ballet in April, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Her teaching philosophy works well, she says, in an environment where it isn’t safe to be close to other people. 

    “Pretty much every person who I teach all have a history of being touched in unwanted ways … a lot of the available [dance] curriculums are predominantly about that because they assume people cannot think and interpret for themselves,” Washburn said. “Blind people really learn by having a conversation and through repeated experimentation.”

    Through this experimentation, Washburn aims to introduce her students to new ways of movement and self-expression. One student, Len Burns, had practiced jiujitsu and yoga, but never took a ballet class before the pandemic caused nationwide shutdowns in March.

    A blind man in his 60s, Burns believed he did not “quite fit the stereotype of a beginning ballet student,” but a friend encouraged him to give Washburn’s class a try.

    “Little could I have known on that quiet Sunday afternoon that I had begun a journey that has already transformed me in ways I could never have imagined,” Burns said.

    Washburn’s classes also thrived during the pandemic, allowing people from around the globe to join. Burns practices in the central coast area of California. Washburn said another student wakes up at 5 a.m. just to dance with Dark Room Ballet.

    Washburn believes she’s the only person teaching the way she does. Some companies have offered special classes or programs for visually impaired dancers, and the Fernanda Bianchini Ballet Association in Brazil says on its website that it is the only dance school and company in the world made up entirely of visually impaired people.

    Washburn considers herself a “ballet folk artist” because she is largely self-taught, but she takes dance classes every day and follows the guidance of her blind dance mentor, Mana Hashimoto.

    Hashimoto studied dance at the New England Conservatory of Music, Berklee College of Music and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. She performed dance around the world, including at the world-renowned dance space Jacob’s Pillow in Massachusetts. In 2009, Hashimoto founded Dance Without Sight, a workshop series that teaches movement through touch, sound and smell.https://www.usatodaynetworkservice.com/tangstatic/html/pnjm/sf-q1a2z3be0d353f.min.html

    Washburn performed with several companies, including Infinity Dance Theater in New York City, where she climbed the ranks to principal dancer. Along with her extensive dance background, Washburn holds a master’s degree in education and certification from the Indiana-based American College of Sports Medicine.

    Still, Washburn said ableism in the dance industry is “almost inexplicable,” and it held her back as a teacher and performer.

    She’s been barred from classes with sighted dancers by instructors who fear she could injure herself or others. People have underestimated her intellect, and a lot of work placed Washburn in “unsafe and disrespectful environments,” but she took it anyway because she thought she wouldn’t land any other jobs.  

    To help break down barriers for visually impaired dancers, Washburn offers her group class and private lessons for free. 

    “My true mission is to fight against educational denial,” Washburn said. “If someone wants to learn something from me, I never, ever say no, because they deserve to learn.”

    Krishna Washburn talks with students before her virtual "Dark Room Ballet" class begins in her New York City home on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020.
    Krishna Washburn talks with students before her virtual “Dark Room Ballet” class begins in her New York City home on Monday, Nov. 30, 2020. Danielle Parhizkaran/NorthJersey.com

    Washburn delves deeper than typical ballet technique instruction by explaining skeletal awareness and biomechanics. She coaches dancers to tune in to their bodies and feel how each muscle moves in order to place them in a prescribed form.

    On the first day of class, Washburn instructs her students to place a line of tape on the ground and get used to the feeling of it. That helps dancers feel “confident and oriented in their dance space,” Washburn said. People move more freely about their space knowing there’s a home base to return to. 

    Stern said his private lessons with Washburn provided insight into his identity as well as his physical body. 

    “Ballet provided a welcome chance to reconnect with and recommit to my body, and in a not stereotypically ‘manly’ way that appealed to my queer identity,” Stern said.

    He was drawn to Dark Room Ballet because it suited every type of body. Stern could learn the moves as a 30-year-old who was deaf and blind. So could Burns, who is 30 years his senior. 

    Dark Room Ballet welcomes people with any amount of dance experience and all abilities, though most people who attend have some visual impairment. Although virtual classes started during the pandemic, Washburn said she plans to continue teaching the class for the rest of her life. 

    “The person I get to be today, I get to be a teacher,” Washburn said. “I get to work only with people that I respect and I get to be treated with respect. But this is a recent development, and I had to wait for the world to fall apart for it to happen.”